Step 2. unclip the headlight adapter from the back of the headlight. (see attached figure) Pressing the side of the adapter allows the side clips to lift. Then "wiggle" the adapter side to side to remove it. Remove the cover off the back of the adpater. There are two small clips that are easy to remove. DO NOT ALLOW THIS COVER TO FALL into the engine bay. It's a pain to find and fish out...trust me.

Now look at the back of the adapter where all the wires are entering. Refer to the attached picture. The wire plugged into slot #2 (#2) is the ground wire. The wire plugged into slot #12 (#12) is the wire for the front turn signal. Using the Quick-connects, or by splicing, attach on end of the resistor to #12. When you do this, attach the resistor 2-3 inches away from the adapter. You will have to cut wire #12 later in the mod and you need to leave enuff wire attached to the adapter to allow a future connection. Then quick-connect or splice the other end to #2.

There are two steel braces that goes from front to back in the engine bay. One sits right under the air filter housing, and there is one on the passenger side as well. I drilled a hole in each and screwed the resistor to these steel braces. The resistors get VERY HOT, so you need to attach them to a metal part of the car to prevent damage.

Please remember: I am not, nor is e90post.com, nor any of its administrators responsible for ANY injury to you, you car, or other individuals and /or their cars if you follow this DIY and f*ck up.

At this point, you will be able to replace your front turn signal with an LED without getting an error. Ensure that you order the correct bulb from the vendor. I got the wrong LED and had to file down one of the positioning pins.

The next step in this mod will prep your car for the next part: cut #12 between where you placed the resistor and the headlight adapter. Remember to leave yourself a couple of inches of wire still attached to the adapter.

Congrats! you now have AEO on your e90!

In the attached pic you'll see the resistor attached and resting on the beam I was referring to.

Please remember: I am not, nor is e90post.com, nor any of its administrators responsible for ANY injury to you, you car, or other individuals and /or their cars if you follow this DIY and f*ck up.

Now it's time to get dirty. Lift your car up and take off the driver side tire. In the wheel well you will see the access door that allows you to remove the turn signal bulb (see picture). Remove this access door and twist the white bulb holder counter-clockwise to remove the bulb. Carefully remove the bulb and replace with the LED. RE-install. Now look at the rear part of the wheel well and identify the small bundle of wires entering from the rear (cabin side). See picture. In this bundle are the sidemarker wires: blue with yellow stripe (power) and brown (ground).

Pick a color for your power supply (I chose green) and a different color wire for your ground (mine is black). You can pass these wires into the engine bay thru the very evident opening near the spring. Once the wires are in the engine bay, connect your ground wire to the ground wire (#2) FARTHER AWAY from the adapter than where your resistor is attached. Connect the power supply to wire #12 (the section of wire still attached to the headlight adapter) that you had clipped earlier.

Now replace the adapter on the headlight. Wrap your wires in electrical tape. There are multiple bundles of wire in the engine bay to attach the new wires to so they don't move around the engine bay.

EDIT: Please see post #32 of this tread for an alternate wire pass-thru idea.

Now lift the passenger side. Off with the tire. Look in your engine bay and identify the plastic pipe that carries the windshield wiper fluid to the tank (see picture). This hiatus allows passage of wires form the engine bay into the wheel well. First attach the resistor as you did on the driver side: one end attached to wire #12, far enough back from the adapter to allow a future connection. The other end of the resitor attached to #2. Clip wire #12, and then attach the appropriate new wire to wire #12 (adapter side). Attach your new wire to the ground wire (#2) as you did on the driver's side. Pass the wires thru the hole for the wiper fluid pipe and then pull them thru into the wheel well.

Now detach your right side side marker (see picture). Open the bundle of wires and identify the power (blue/yellow) and ground (brown). Now look for a small slot right at the edge of the wheel well that is line with the side marker. Feed the wires from the engine bay into this small hole while feeling for them in the sidemarker hole (see picture). Attach the appropriate wires. Put the passenger side LED in. Now put everything back together and put your intake back in.

nicenicenicenicenice... a weekend project if u finish the instructions soon

edit: so from what i can tell at this point.

1. u connect a resistor between the power and ground.
2. cut the power wire from the adapter in FRONT of the resistor
3. connect new wire linking power wire of FRONT SIGNAL to power wire of SIDE SIGNAL behind the resistor as far as possible.
4. connect new wire linking ground wire of FRONT SIGNAL and ground wire of SIDE SIGNAL behind resistor.

can you explain more on how you connected the wires? also, did you connect the wires at different locations right-side vs. left-side? the drivers side i dont see you removing the actual side-signal light, but on passenger side you do. i assume then that you splice the wires at different points too.

can you explain more on how you connected the wires? also, did you connect the wires at different locations right-side vs. left-side? the drivers side i dont see you removing the actual side-signal light, but on passenger side you do. i assume then that you splice the wires at different points too.

The driver's side splice occurs in the wheel well. The passenger side splice occurs at the sidemarker. The e90 factory wiring is not symmetric, so each side required a different tactic. AS far as the connections are concerned:

1. resistor connections: Bare a section of the existing ground (wire#2) and wrap the resistor wire around it and tape. Connect end of wire #12 attached to the headlight and resistor wire using twist-cap. I don't like using the quick connects, and in order to disable the corner turn signal and get AEO you have to sever wire #12.

2. sidemarker connections: bare a section of the ground wire and power wire and wrap your new wires around and tape. When connecting the power wire from the sidemarker to the headlight you can use a twist cap since the headlight wire (#12) has been cut. Again, I find the quick connects cumbersome. In some of my pictures you can see where I have removed a section of insulation from around certain wires.

The driver's side splice occurs in the wheel well. The passenger side splice occurs at the sidemarker. The e90 factory wiring is not symmetric, so each side required a different tactic. AS far as the connections are concerned:

1. resistor connections: Bare a section of the existing ground (wire#2) and wrap the resistor wire around it and tape. Connect end of wire #12 attached to the headlight and resistor wire using twist-cap. I don't like using the quick connects, and in order to disable the corner turn signal and get AEO you have to sever wire #12.

2. sidemarker connections: bare a section of the ground wire and power wire and wrap your new wires around and tape. When connecting the power wire from the sidemarker to the headlight you can use a twist cap since the headlight wire (#12) has been cut. Again, I find the quick connects cumbersome. In some of my pictures you can see where I have removed a section of insulation from around certain wires.

Hope this helps.

It would be best if you have a soldering iron to solder the wires to the resistor. Its not a good idea to use tape to connect two components because they will become unstable, and do not hold well against elements and bumps from a moving vehicle. Radio Shack has soldering irons for 10 bux (last i checked). I think its a worthwhile investment.

do we disconnect the #12 wire from the headlight adapter? or CUT it. you say to attach the end of the #12wire to the resistor wire, but then you say to also leave a few inches. i dont get it, that contradicts. the instructions could use a little editting, its confusing me. do you have an AIM screen name, and more pictures?

Great writeup. This is a possible project for me (but I would not hold my breath). I still need to read over the dyi 3-4 more times to make sure I can visually picture and understand what I will be doing. I think this is not that hard to do since it does not involved circuit board like the blinking clown nose. I also think this mod is easy to reverse if you should ever need to put the wiring back the way it was should you have the need to.

Wow, all this time, it was the led that causes the error. Chesmu, your stock just double in e90post

do we disconnect the #12 wire from the headlight adapter? or CUT it. you say to attach the end of the #12wire to the resistor wire, but then you say to also leave a few inches. i dont get it, that contradicts. the instructions could use a little editting, its confusing me. do you have an AIM screen name, and more pictures?

the resistor has two connections: to the ground wire (#2) and to wire #12 FROM the computer side, not the headlight side. The idea is to pretend the resistor is the bulb. The sidemarker power wire connects to the headlight part of wire #12 and the ground wire (#2). You have to cut wire #12 so the car no longer tries to power the bulb in the usual fashion. I will try and "draw" the wiring diagram and post it.

Also, when you order the LED urn signal kit, the instructions that come with it have pictures which will probably be helpful.

What is the purpose of connecting the ground wire from the sidemarker to the ground of the front blinker?

since inside the adapter there is apparently already a connection between the #2 and #12 (my dotted red line), therefore when we cut #12 we lose that connection so we need to ammend that connection again with the resistor; but now u wanna connect the front signal ground and sidemarker ground, thats redundant isnt it? since theyre connected again when you connect the front signal with the sidemarker power wire. the dotted red line is in use once again, so there is no need for the brown wire (wire between sidemarker ground and front signal ground)

It may very well be, however I got an error when I didn't have a ground connected, but I didn't have the LED's installed either.
My logic for connecting a ground is this: By clipping wire #12, and connecting the sidemarker power to #12, the car will be "searching" for a ground to complete the new circuit. So I gave it one.

I'm no electrician, but it made sense to me. Try doing it without the extra ground... it may still work.